Project MUSE - Gay Slang Lexigraphy: A Brief History and a Commentary on the First Two Gay Glossari

Contents:

• POLARI: THE LANGUAGE GAY MEN ED TO SURVIVE
• FILIPO GAY LGO EXPLAED FOR THE RT OF THE WORLD
• USAGE OF GAY LINGO AMONG MILLENIALS AS A WAY OF COMMUNICATING
• A SECRET GAY LANGUAGE HAS GONE MASTREAM THE PHILIPP
• GAY LGO AS REFLECTN OF SOCIAL INTY
• GAY LGO DICTNARY
• NEW TERMS FOR GAY LGO REARCH PAPER
• CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER
• GAY FURRY HACKERS ARE TARGETG US STAT FOR PASSG ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATN
• CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER

POLARI: THE LANGUAGE GAY MEN ED TO SURVIVE

Pri, formerly known as Gay Pri, is a regnn of LGBTQ inty, affirmatn of equal rights, and celebratn of visibily, digny, and diversy the LGBTQ muny.

G: Gay. Why gay or lbian and not “homosexual”? While the word homosexual is still ocsnally ed some ntexts, you might have noticed that don’t make an appearance any versn of the LGBTQ acronym.

As our age note on the term stat, “up until 1973, homosexualy was listed The Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs (DSM), psychiatry’s standard reference on the classifitn of mental illns.

FILIPO GAY LGO EXPLAED FOR THE RT OF THE WORLD

People aware of this former tegorizatn feel that the term homosexual still rri a negative nnotatn. ” In fact, the term homosexual was liberately rejected by early gay rights activists bee, acrdg to The New York Tim, “they did not want to be intified as exclively sexual begs. For the and other reasons, the term homosexual is wily nsired disparagg and offensive.

Instead, the terms gay and lbian are generally preferred. Gay, on the other hand, n be ed to scribe a person of any genr who experienc same-sex attractn, although is most often ed to scribe a man who is attracted to men.

USAGE OF GAY LINGO AMONG MILLENIALS AS A WAY OF COMMUNICATING

The days, the term homosexual is typilly limed to medil ntexts, if ed at all.

On June 28, 1969, the New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a bar equented by gay and genr-nonnformg people (at a time when terms like LGBTQ didn’t yet exist). They attempted to arrt the gay and trans bar patrons, which started a seri of protts agast the police. Partially rponse to Stonewall, 1970, queer activists New York Cy anized a march to Central Park wh the theme “Gay Pri.

Trans activist Slyvia Rivera particular advoted for the more forceful slogan “Gay power.

A SECRET GAY LANGUAGE HAS GONE MASTREAM THE PHILIPP

The term queer, like the term homosexual, has a b of a troubled history. However, unlike homosexual, has been wily reappropriated by the LGBTQ muny as a label.

GAY LGO AS REFLECTN OF SOCIAL INTY

Queer lerally means “strange or odd om a nventnal viewpot, ” and by at least by the late 1800s, queer was ployed as a rogatory term for an effemate or gay man.

In 1990, this effort foced on queer as a llective term for gay and lbian people. Queer was seen as a way to refer to gays and lbians whout beg genr-sentialist or g divisns wh the muny.

We have already touched on the terms gay and lbian.

GAY LGO DICTNARY

homoromantic: a person who is romantilly attracted to people of the same sex or genr. Polari was spoken to skirt the UK’s strict anti-homosexualy laws.

”That may seem like a strg of nonsense words om Dr Sss’s The Cat the Hat or Anthony Burgs’s A Clockwork Orange but ’s a real-life greetg gay men the UK would say to each other the 1950s and 60s. ”Until 1967, homosexual sex was illegal England and Wal. To avoid imprisonment, gay men ed Polari, a language that the Oxford English Dictnary says is “ma up of Italianate phras, rhymg slang and nt terms.

NEW TERMS FOR GAY LGO REARCH PAPER

Many untri around the world have their own versn of queer slang, om Brish gay slang rived om the rhymg slang Polari to beki – the Philipp’ queer language that borrows om a slew of sourc, cludg pop culture, Japane, Spanish, and the untry’s lol languag. While the gay slang terms and languag serve jt as much attentn, one article wouldn’t be enough to ver everythg. Related: Watch: Short film explor lost gay slang Brs ed to avoid arrt.

Lguists believe that’s how gay slang started, too. In the Victorian era, male homosexualy wasn’t jt nsired taboo – was illegal. To hi their inti pla sight of other queer people, gay and bisexual men would refer to each other wh nam.

CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER

Today, “Mary” is still ed as an exprsn or a way to teasgly refer to another gay person. But the Onle Slang Dictnary c 1960s gay male culture as the earlit known source, particularly rtoonist Joe Johnson’s characters “Miss Thg” and “Big Dick”, which appeared early issu of The Advote. Gay Slang Terms From The Mid-century To The 70s.

Homosexualy remaed illegal across the Uned Stat the mid-twentieth century – that is, until Illois beme the first state to crimalize same-sex relatns 1962. In an act of ristance, unrground gay and lbian bars thrived the 50s and 60s.

In the 60s and 70s, gay men even had a “hanky ” – a system that volved wearg bandanas wh lors that signified whether you were a top, bottom, to BDSM, etc. One of the most well-known phras to e out of this time is “iend of Dorothy”, which is for a gay man.

GAY FURRY HACKERS ARE TARGETG US STAT FOR PASSG ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATN

Judy Garland, who played Dorothy the film, was also a queer in who patronized gay bars and often surround herself wh queer iends. In the 60s, Lesch was the print of a gay rights anizatn lled the Mattache Society and me up wh the “Sip-In” – a monstratn held at New York Cy bars that banned service to out gay people.

Lesch scribed nti as “agg or middle-aged homosexuals, offtim effemate character” and people of “settled meanor who utns agast temperate acts”. “Fl” is a 50s slang term for a gay person that was popularized by the novel Catcher the Rye.

Another siar term, “light the loafers”, is a somewhat rogatory phrase that is ed to scribe someone who acts or appears to be gay.

CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER

Unlike someone who is “light the loafers”, a “screamer” is someone who is obvly gay. The drag fai beme a refuge for gay, trans, and genr non-nformg youth who were turned away by their own fai or experienced homelsns due to poverty. (Image cred: Alamy)Fifty years ago, the Sexual Offenc Act beme law, crimalisg homosexual acts that took place private between two men over the age of 21.

Fna Macdonald looks at a gay slang that beme a form of fiance. The secret language beme a kd of verbal wk between gay men Bra durg the early 20th Century – allowg them to hi and to reveal at the same time. Yet the years when homosexualy was illegal, was a way of munitg public whout riskg arrt – as well as a chance to challenge the stat was a secret language that beme a kd of verbal wk between gay men Bra durg the early 20th Century (Cred: Alamy)Layerg upon layerg of different fluenc ensur that there is no one sgle versn of Polari but many versns – Pl Baker“It was a secret, spoken form of language, ed maly by groups of people who were on the margs of society and associated wh crimaly, ” says Pl Baker, a lguistic history expert at the Universy of Lanster and thor of Fantabulosa: A Dictnary of Polari and Gay Slang.